Now when I say that Claudia & I were making plans, I may have misspoken cuz ya see... the only role I played in this planning thing consisted of meeting up with Cluadia at a restaurant to discuss the deets about where our destination would be & once that was decided, she invited me to her house (which by the way is "gorgeous") to "book" our vacation which is where she did all the work while I just drank her wine & admired her house endlessly. I just answered any of her questions with answers like "whatever you think Claudia". I'm thinking that maybe she should've charged me a planning fee for all that work she did for us. BUT what you don't know about Claudia is that she is a traveling~junkie and this planning stuff comes second nature to her. None~the~less... she did do all of the leg work & I (who doesn't get out that often) greatly appreciate her traveling knowledge... made life easy; no stress. Thanks Claudia... I'll plan the next trip ;-)).
We planned on getting to Florida for around noon time (this was carefully planned so that we would have time to settle~in to our new home yet also have time to familiarize ourselves with the area & figure out what we would be doing for the next 4 days/3 nights that would follow. It was great getting there at that time, but a great sacrifice would come along with it... arising out of bed at 3:15 aaaay~em!! I had planned on getting to bed early the night before but of course it didn't pan out that way (ugh!)... I believe I only got about 4 hours sleep (David too, unfortunately). I have the bestest boyfriend in the world cuz he did not complain about any of this... he awoke & chauffered my azz to the airport & saw me off (to think that I'll be going through all of this again for the trip back as we set it up for the same schedule).
This is where I met up with my friend Claudia, and so the pics begin (us at the airport)...
With all of that being said, we are staying at the very prestigious "The Breakers" hotel. I had no idea just how prestigious this place was going to be but OMG, I felt like I was part of the "Rich & Famous", vacationing there... except for me being without the $$ & also without the fan base. I can't speak for Claudia on that same note but judging by her house, she's higher up on that ladder than I am, lol.
This is where we stayed...
Just as we had planned, we arrived & settled~in to our room...
We were originally supposed to have a room with only one bed,which we would've shared.
Now~now boys... we're not "that" kind of girlfriends, lol. But being the traveling expert that she is, Claudia had them upgrade our room once we arrived, to a room with 2 beds (without the extra charge... you go girl!!
We then quickly ventured out to the grounds of The Breakers (which by the way, covers 140 acres)... no, we didn't cover all 140 acres, we covered just where there was booze, which leads us to The Ocean Grille. This is where we enjoyed our first drink(s) & some lunch. Let me give you an idea of the type of place this is (Expensive!!)... our lunch consisted of a couple drinks (4 actually), a couple wrap~type sandwiches along w/ fries & onion rings & the bill came out to ninety~something dollars (OWWWIE). We actually went back there for lunch another day (what were we thinking??... Oh I know...we're on vaca & the food is yummi~licious & the drinks are even better). Anyhoot... check out our first day here, enjoying some tropical frozen drinks...
After enjoying our first couple drinks & getting some 'real' food into us, we did a little window~shopping, more sight~seeing (on the premises) and then as the sunlight was fading, we decided to freshen up & change into something more night appropriate. We headed down to the Tapestry Bar where we had a couple drinks (or a few, I can't quite remember... lol). From there, we headed to the Seafood Grille where we continued with quenching our thirsts.
Here's some pics of the evening as it went on (mind you that I was consuming equal parts of H2O along with my drinks & Claudia did not (lol).
They should've called those yummy drinks... Wobbley~Pops by the looks of it. Hey claudia, watch out for the wall!!
This is the next day (for Claudia)...
This is the next day (for Claudia)...
While Claudia was napping pool~side, I felt great & wanted to release some energy (I was fired up & ready to go) so I took advantage of the spa & worked out for an hour, then went to the outdoor lap pool & did some laps.
I went back to check on my friend to find her still napping so I stayed at that pool (which is called "The Relaxation Pool"... no kids, no cell phones... just relax), went in the pool & did some more laps. I was feeling pretty good at this point so decided to just catch some of those tropical rays at this point. This is The Relaxation Pool...
I applaud Claudia for even attempting to get outside after the night before(she was a little hung~over)... we went poolside & then went to the outdoor Jacuzzi which over~looks the ocean (notice the lap pool in the background).
This is where I believe that Claudia went wrong... she was 'done' after getting into that jacuzzi (I don't think the hot temp of the water did any justice for that hangover of hers)... she soon went back to the hotel room in attempts to sleep~it~off.
I took this time to venture back to the spa to make use of the steam room. Me at the spa (notice the tan I am sporting)...
Then I layed~out for the balance of the afternoon to get more of that Floridian look to take home with me.
The wind started picking up so I decided to call it a day out there & head back up to the room in hopes to get Claudia up & ready for our 2nd evening (I was ready to get another night of drinking in!!).
I bet you can guess that that didn't happen (lol). But we did have a nice, enjoyable, easy evening. We ventured out to town for some food (Thai food).
Here's some pics of the evening (look how great she looks, even hung~over, Bee~otch!!)...
As the days & nights went on of our trip, we took more pics (I'll summarize)...
Me feeling 'happy'... I need more 'happy~drinks'.
Claudia's joining in on the happiness!! Look at those 2 beautiful 'happy~drinks' right there on the table (they make us happy!!)!!
Wind remnants from Hurricane Ida... Claudia holding on for dear life!!
Not only is Claudia model height but just look at her... gorgeous!!
Me trying to pose 'model like' (I am only a mere 5'3" though... but those heels bring me up a few inches)... but not quite model~height like my friend.
Sitting at the pool with the ocean right behind us (we weren't allowed to go into the ocean water though; had an undertow warning)... damn Ida!!
Stay away from him Claudia... he's just a pig! Is this how the swine flu got started??
Claudia getting along with the locals.
I hope David's not viewing this blog!!
Don't worry Robert, it was just for a few days... she's coming back to you. It meant nothing!
What can I say... saw this sexy machine while out shopping. Couldn't just walk by.
I wasn't kidding when I mentioned at the beginning of this post that this place is for the Rich & Famous. Matt Lauer was sitting at the table beside ours one evening at the Seafood Grille. I didn't want to appear 'star~struck' so I maintained my composure the entire time sitting near him but all along, I just wanted to just ask him if I could get my picture taken with him. Oh well, maybe next time (That's right... David said he might be interested in going there with me in the future if I liked it there that much)!!
We also heard that Jenna Bush was there for a wedding and Fergi, too (not Boom~Boom~Pow Fergi but rather; Fergi.. Duchess of York) was there as well. They say that a lot of royalty vacation here. How the hell did I ever get in this place?? They obviously don't know where I'm from!! Actually, they don't care... as long as you're a paying customer, right??
Suffice to say, we had an excellent time on our vacation. I can't wait for my next vaca... which (since I'm posting this a little late) already happened which was in NH with my 2~boys last weekend (I'll try to get that post up sooner than later).
As much fun as I had with my girlfriend, I was soooooooooo happy to see my boys driving up to the pick~up spot at the airport, to pick me up & take me home. Which get this, this is where I met Robert (Claudia's husband) for the first time. Well, I met him once eons ago at a bar w/ Claudia but so much time has gone by since then that an official meet was needed yet once again.
Home Sweet Home ~PaDaMa~!!
Oh, did I mention that David's "boys~trip" unfortunately never happened for him but imagine, this is how the thought of my girls~trip started.
